Kawa Ada

Plays by Kawa Ada

It’s 1978 and Aman and Mariam have fled to Canada in hopes of putting an ocean between themselves and the daily horrors of life in war-torn Afghanistan. A championship chess player in Kabul, Aman finds himself working in a pizza place for a boss who taunts him with insensitive verbal jabs. Their fresh start continues to prove difficult as they navigate the trauma and displacement that follows them at every turn, and when their son Roshon is born, their curse of displacement is passed on to the next generation. The family’s only hope for a peaceful future might be Mariam’s past, as her strange family mythology becomes a source of power. Is her love strong enough to keep Aman and Roshon from destroying themselves or each other?

Kawa Ada is an actor, writer and national speaker on diversity. He is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory, and began his writing career with solo shows, including The Canny Afghani, which premiered at the Boston Centre for the Arts. He recently wrote and produced the comedy short, Jihad Gigolo, which debuted at the ReelWorld Film Festival. His next work, Boy Play, is being developed as part of the playwrights’ unit at Factory Theatre.